is estimated at about 30,000. Justified in the early delving into the past, or the interaction between the
years of the regime on pseudo-scientific grounds, campaigns in Spain and Argentina for the recovery
newborns of women considered unfit to raise them of stolen babies, highlight the complexity of the
were given to families with links to the regime, processes of historical memory and their importance
a practice that persisted until well into the post- as an instrument for redress. The story of the film
dictatorship period. María Mercedes Bueno gave is accompanied by impressive photography, as well
birth to her baby on 24 December, 1981 at the as several archive images that complement the
Municipal Hospital of La Linea, province of Cádiz. narrative. Particularly powerful are the images in
Sedated and unconscious during the delivery, she the trailer, where we see María Martín sitting at
was told upon waking that the baby had died and the foot of a ditch where the bodies of the unknown
that the hospital would take care of everything. victims were deposited, or the panoramic view of the
Twenty-eight years later, reading about several Mirador de la Memoria in the town of El Torno in
cases of stolen babies in the press, it dawned on her Cáceres. In this beautiful enclave in the Jerte Valley,
that her baby might be among them. The practice of since 2008 a sculptural ensemble has paid homage to
stealing the babies of left-wing mothers had been the victims of Francoism. The monument was made
instigated at the beginning of the dictatorship by by Francisco Cedenilla, an artist whose grandfather
Doctor Vallejo Nájera, a follower of Nazi eugenic was shot in October 1936.
theory, intent on eliminating an alleged “red gene”
The silence of others is, in the strict sense of
from Spanish society. Over the decades, the stealing the word, an extraordinary documentary. The
of babies became an issue of “morals” more than quality of the production, the participation of many
an ideological one. It lasted well into the 1980s, a historical memory associations, and the single-
symptom of a corrupt plot whose eradication would minded dedication of a process that matured over
have required a high-level purge – something that the six years of recording mark the film as a unique
never happened during the transition. achievement. Perhaps most significantly, it is able
The people tortured by the regime’s security
to reach new audiences which had never seen a
forces have been able to provide firsthand accounts depiction of historical memory in Spain. Its airing
of their experiences. Some of their tormentors are on state public television in prime time and the
still alive, and the testimony of the victims means high audience figures bear witness to the interest it
that the names of torturers such as Jesús Muñecas aroused.
Aguilar and Antonio González Pacheco, alias “Billy
In the face of this media impact, it is not
el niño”, have come to light. Among the torture surprising that some critical voices have been raised.
victims who feature in the documentary is José María It has been said that certain specific data are not
“Chato” Galante, whose narrative brings home the presented accurately in the documentary, that the
reality of state violence and abuse of power so typical cases of the different victims are not sufficiently
of the Franco dictatorship. Galante is also one of the differentiated, or that the narrative is excessively
main instigators of the lawsuit. fictionalized. Perhaps the term “documentary”
Whatever the verdicts passed on the defendants
is not the most appropriate to name a film whose
in the lawsuit, The silence of others draws attention, protagonists, despite being real people experiencing
on a social level, to an impunity that is still enjoyed real situations, appear in a story where it seems that
by many people close to the Franco regime. Memory, the temporary persona prevails over the person.
so often projected in a kaleidoscopic way, serves in Obviously The silence of others is a subjective reading
this film as a bearer of justice. Its infinite nuances of the events. Perhaps the important thing here is to
are manifested in several moments: for example, distinguish between a possible caricaturization and a
the discussion between Luis and Mª Ángeles, legitimate use of fiction in the interests of creating a
the children of María Martín, about the point of more attractive audiovisual language able to achieve
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Observing Memories
ISSUE 3